Burnt Away Forever
by Concerto in E
Summary: I became a lawyer because I thought I could save people who were suffering and in pain, but, in the end, I can’t even save the person closest to me... One-shot


Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form, own any of Phoenix Wright or any associated entities.

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_(…I became a lawyer because I thought I could save people who were suffering and in pain…but…in the end…I can't even save the person closest to me…)_

Only the knowledge of your innocence allows me to thwart my tears. My spirit is stitched together by this single strand of hair, but what support is one hair in bridging a chasm?

_(I-Is this it?…Is this all I could do? Maya…I- I can't let it end like this!)_

I could question myself, I could think maxims and utter circumlocutions until the world drowns, but it would not hide the fact that I have nothing more to give. I have seen every effort I made, every piece of evidence I presented, and every objection I raised, shattered contemptibly before my eyes, and all that is left is the bleak truth:

The truth that, this time, it really is hopeless.

"Any last objections, Mr. Wright?"

At these dreaded words, I drag my numbing carrion off the table. Bile churns and throbs mercilessly in my head as I struggle to hold myself upright. All of this is only a wretched charade. It feels as if I lost my voice.

_(I...failed…I couldn't protect you…)_

"_And you'll carry that weight on your shoulders every day for the rest of your life." _

My mentor's words from a world beyond reverberate in the lifeless air, gouging into the heart of my misery. Her tone is not spiteful, but hollow, devoid of feeling, of compassion; her words are cold…naked…blunt.

They skewer me.

_(Maya…I'm sorry…)_

"That's enough, Mr. Wright!" the judge declares, his words could have killed me on the spot.

I wish they had.

"I think it would be for the best if you stayed away from the attorney's bench."

I try to plead, but even my most fervent words perish before escaping my throat. The only voice I hear is Mia's, still echoing in my ears.

_"...for the rest of your life..."_

The frigid judge continues, "This court sees no reason to further prolong the trial."

There is nothing I can do now. I can only watch, helplessly, as this tragedy unfolds. I am forced to see you sitting indignant—not fearful—in the defendant's chair. I struggle to avoid your gaze, but our eyes lock and everything floods back to me.

The memories…us solving cases together, you dragging me to the office on Sunday mornings to watch movies, your gleeful face as you devour your favorite burger…my depression after you left the first time, and my elation when we reunited in Kurain…and then...

…breaking down those doors, running across that burning bridge…

For all I cared, the bridge could have been a tightrope of frayed yarn; yet I still would have tried to cross it.

You are the person closest to me.

I became a lawyer because I thought I could save people who were suffering, but, here at the end…

…all I can do is cry.

The weight on my shoulders…Mia's omen has become a reality.

_(…I'm sorry…)_

I wish I could call out to you. I wish I could avert the inevitable, but I have no strength, and no one in the world would hear me.

"This case is extremely clear. I see no room for misinterpretation of the facts. Therefore…"

He raises his imbrued gavel and the world blurs around me. The chaos builds between my ears as my legs begin to fail. I would do anything to escape from this nightmare. I can't bear what I know is about to happen.

"This court finds the defendant, Maya Fey, GUILTY! The accused shall be sentenced to death."

The hammer falls, an empty sound.

"**MAYA! NO!!!"**

But I am too late in finding the voice that abandoned me. You are gone, vanished, a vapor in the acrid chamber. I run, screaming into the darkness. The vapid plague smothers me, the sickening crunch tearing away wrathfully, driving me into the mud. The bridge is gone, burnt away forever. And then the blood falls, and I fall with it…falling down an abysmal corkscrew of embers, a shuttering magatama crushed within my hand.

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End file.
